Monday, June 25, 2012

Things I Love about St.Louis: The Saint Louis Zoo

(This is the fourth in the Things I Love about Saint Louis Series. If you want to know more, go here.)

Living in Saint Louis my whole life, sometimes I forget how lucky we really are having this awesome Zoo. Not every city has a zoo and not every zoo is free to get into. I know there are alot of other zoos around the country but I'm a little bias. The Saint Louis Zoo is just all around great.

I went to the zoo every year as a kid, not alot but at least once a year. Ever since J and I had kids, we've been going to the Zoo ALOT. Say... a few times a month alot. We started going to often that we decided very quickly to become members. The Zoo is open year round and we have been there at all times except
when it's 30 degrees or under or it has snowed which I'm kinda bummed
about because I've heard it's pretty.

Hmm..... which kind do I want?

As a member( there are different levels), we get the free parking and so many go- anywhere passes which get you on the train, the carousel, the children's zoo, and the sea lion show. If they melt down after 30 minutes, I don't feel bad leaving because it was paid for along time ago. And J's work donation-matches so we can up our membership level, score! If you are from STL, look into if your work matches too. It's so worth it.

Price....mostly FREE...
If you are not a member or just visiting, you can go through the whole zoo for free. Yep, free ( if you can avoid the food and gift shop. I know, easier said than done) If you get there the first hour of the day, you can go into the children's zoo, carousel,and sting rays for free. FREE. If you have a bigger family, that's a heck of a deal. You can also park for free along the streets in Forest Park, which will be is it's own post of awesome-ness. As my friend Katrina over at Keys To the Magic Travel says about WDW....a very affordable option for souvenirs are the pressed pennies that you can find all around the Zoo. K loves them and for 51 cents. I can't beat it.

If you get here after the first hour, they do have a Safari Pass. For $10 per person, this gets you one admission to the Children's Zoo,
Zooline Railroad, Conservation Carousel, Movie and 4-D Motion Simulator
and Stingrays at Caribbean. It maybe worth it, it may not be depending on what you want to see and do.

S loves the squeezy applesauce.

Food
We usually bring some snacks for the girls when we go like squeezey applesauce, crackers, grapes, and drinks. The Zoo is cool with you bringing a cooler and all the food/drink you need with you. How great is that? But if you don't want to worry about it, the food is great here. It's the typical tourist prices. They have everything from BBQ to Ice Cream to Beer. There are 10 places to get food all around the Zoo. They have this deal for a Souvenir cup for $8 but then refills are only a $1. If you can share one of those, you're set. And if you come back, you can bring it back and reuse it again all season.

Attire
I always dress for comfort and a little sweating, especially in the summer here in St.Louis ( hot and really humid) Lugging two kids in a double stroller for 2-3 hours doesn't make for cute. I see plenty of cutely dressed people but I want comfort. It is a bigger place so I would recommend tennis shoes but again I see people in all kinds of shoes.

Our RouteOur usual Zoo trip goes something like this....( and keep in mind this is a 4 and 2 year I'm taking )

We try to get there as early as we can to avoid the crowds and the heat in the summer. We go through the south gates by Highway 40 and make our way to the right where we climb up the hill towards the big cats and large hooved animals. There are many cool buildings with other animals that you can look at along the way but right now my kids have no interest in them and there are so many other animals to see that it doesn't matter. There are two baby lions that were out this morning and they are so cute you will want to take them home.

Mountain Bongo

Then we make our way back down the hill to the apes/monkeys,birds...

around to the carousel.....

....bears, Living World ( not much for my two right now but tons of cool stuff),Children's zoo, Insectarium

and then on the River's Edge to see the hippos and Elephants, who are the girls favorite. There are folks all around the Zoo who are explaining the animals and will answer any questions that you can think of or will find out who can answer your questions if they can't. We finish up the day with a ride on the Zoo train which right now is the highlight of the trip, which is why it's left until the end.

New Baby Kenzie and her mom, Rani

Grandma Ellie, Mama Rani and Baby Kenize- Three elephant generations. What a family.

My little photog K capturing the hippos

Being the ages they are, there is a bunch we don't do but when they are older things will totally change I'm sure. I so recommend this place to anyone visiting from out of town with or without kids. It's one of my top 5 places to go here. I have been in no way paid or compensated for this post at all. I just love this place and am so blessed that it is in the city where I live. Please come and enjoy it if you are ever in town.

Hi I am following you from the Blog Walk and really like the pictures you posted of the animals and your daughter having fun. Being from Trinidad we do not have a zoo that properly facilitates all the animals. They are usually seen in tiny cages, so I seldom take my kids there. However I am going to Miami this summer and plan to take my son to a Safari 'Lion County' and the Miami Zoo. Hope you can follow back.Jillianhttp://puzzlemecomplete.blogspot.com/

We have family that lives south of St. Louis - in Perryville. And more family even further south near the Wycliff Mounds (but I think those are in Kentucky) - and even with all that family there, we've never been to the zoo! We've done the arch and the Johnson's Shut-ins (but that was a long time ago). I remember when I was there in high school and we went to the floating McDonald's :-) - but that's not there anymore either (perhaps a good thing!).

Oh! The floating McDonalds! I forgot all about that. I think the last I went was in high school too. It was pretty neat to eat MCDs and look and see the arch though. And we stopped in Perryville on our way to Florida to get gas so I know where that is now.

I've never been to the St. Louis, or it's zoo, but I've had several friends that have lived in the area and RAVED about it. So apparently, it IS a great zoo. And I'm embarassed to say, I love the zoo. I think that's why I'm so happy to take my kiddos whenever they want.

I followed you over from the How to Nest for Less linky party. I would love if you stopped by my blog.

What a neat post, Emily. That is AMAZING that it is free to get in. We have a zoo here in Nashville (where I live)...but, it has been several years since I've been. With little ones, it would be a great activity though. (Not recently with the 100+ weather, though!) Thanks for sharing and linking up with us @ Toot Your Horn Tuesday :)

We were outside the gate of the St Louis Zoo over spring break, but they were having some big special day inside and it was packed! We've heard great things about this zoo. We'll get back there someday! Fun pics!! Thanks for sharing. We appreciate you linking up to our "Strut Your Stuff Saturday! It was great having you and we hope you'll be back next week!! -The Sisters

The zoo looks great! My husband loves the zoo, hopefully we'll be able to check it out some time. Thank you for sharing with us on Saturday Show and Tell. I hope you'll join us again this week!-Mackenziehttp://www.cheeriosandlattes.com